Category: Running/Marathons

YOU CAN DO MORE!

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Last January, I completed the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World, 48.6 miles of races over four days ending with the WDW Marathon. It was awesome!

After the race, I continued running, but I also couldn’t ignore discomfort that became very real pain in my left Achilles tendon. (I had surgery on my right Achilles in 2020.) I visited my doctor who shut me down from running and began a rehab program to heal the pain (a small tear) in my Achilles. I stopped running in mid-to-late March. I didn’t run at all in April. And, until today, May 24, I hadn’t run in May.

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Life After 26.2

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As I got clobbered on the hills of Pittsburgh on the second half of the marathon in May 2023, I swore that that was my last marathon.  I was miserable.  I struggled.  There is a certain hell that one goes through in the upper miles of a marathon.  In that race, my 24th marathon, I’d had it. 

I quit marathoning more than a thousand times over the final miles on the unforgiving hills of Pittsburgh.

Only… 

I didn’t quit.

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I Didn’t Say I Was Done…

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After running the Dopey Challenge, I retired from running marathons. I ran 27 marathons in all. And it was wonderful!

One day, hopefully soon, I’ll share some of the great positive feedback I received from friends, family, “fans,” and others on my decision to retire from the 26.2 distance. The support, the insights, the perspectives they all shared were amazing.

But, for now, I would like to make it clear that while I won’t be running marathons any longer, I will still be running.

I didn’t say I was done. I’m not done. No way. Not nearly.

At 5:00 a.m. (one must be quick to register for one of the biggest 5-mile races in the USA) on Sunday, I registered for the Spring Lake 5, my favorite non-marathon race, which takes place on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

I’ll be running this race with two of my sons and one of my daughters-in-law. It’ll be great. I’ve been running this race since the early 1990s.

I love the Spring Lake 5. For a shorter race, it feels like a marathon. The township comes out to support the runners. There’s great music, and tons of happiness and joy. This race also has the best post-race food ever. I love the fact that they give away Jersey Mike’s subs to all finishers.

So, while my marathon days are over, my running days are most certainly not!

My Final Marathon

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The decision was one that had been coming for a long time, years, in fact.  

I knew that being a marathoner wasn’t going to last forever.  It had to end sometime.  I also wanted it to end on my terms and in a special way, a great way.  

And, although it feels a little strange to finally be at this point, I know it was (and is) the right decision.  

It had to end sometime.  

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DOPEY!!!

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Well, I did it.

I did the Dopey Challenge. 48.6 total miles of running.

On Thursday, January 9, I ran the Walt Disney World 5k

On Friday, January 10, I ran the Walt Disney World 10K

On Saturday, January 11, I ran the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon

and, on Sunday, January 2, I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon.

Four races, each longer than the next, over four days.

I have been wanted to run this series of races for over a decade.

And I did them. All pretty well, too.

Running the half-marathon and the full on consecutive days is Goofy.

Running all four of the races is Dopey.

But it was awesome and great and wonderful.

Right Where I Ought To Be

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Over time, we find out where we belong.  We find our niche.  We get comfortable where we are.  This is true with the places we go, the friends we seek, and activities we participate in. And so much more.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t try new things, or visit new places, or look for new experiences, but, by and large, we find our comfort zones and we often stay in those places.

This is true of so many things in life.  

For me, it also seems very true of my marathon times.  It seems I have found my comfort zone.  

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NYC Marathon Sermon 2024

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Each year, at the start of the TCS Marathon, I serve as one of the chaplains who run the Non-Denominational Christian Service for the runners in the Start Village.

The following is the sermon I delivered this year before the big race:

Marathon Sermon 2024

I am going to begin this year’s message with a passage from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 9:

“You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win!”

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Just Be You

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I used to run a lot of 5K races.  I never won any, but I enjoyed running as fast as I could for just over the three miles that those races cover.  I’d race against other runners, but in actuality, I would really be racing against myself.  

A few weeks ago, I ran my first true 5K race in six years. 

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